County may get new Pre K center, but lose a place for students to do science

After Superintendent George Arlotto unveiled his plans to convert a science center to a pre-kindergarten school in Galesville, parents were happy to see the program expand.

But teachers at the science center said students are losing a valuable hands-on learning experience.

The plan calls for $1.6 million to renovate the Carrie Weedon Science Center in Galesville to make it a pre-kindergarten school for 80 students for 2017. The proposal is part of Arlotto's efforts to expand pre Kindergarten throughout the county to boost academic performance through all grade levels and close the achievement gap.

The school system added pre-kindergarten to Overlook, Riviera Beach, Odenton and Severn elementary schools. If approved, the school would be the county's third early education center. The county has the Ferndale Early Education Center in Glen Burnie and the West Meade Early Education Center at Fort George G. Meade.

The Carrie Weedon Science Center, a science museum for county school students, would close. It's unclear if the center would move, said school officials. Arlotto said he's willing to discuss how the school system could continue the science program.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, both Democrats, announced the formation of the 21st Century School Facilities Commission Friday.

The state conducted...

A new Maryland board will review school construction policies and recommend ways to improve building practices.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, both Democrats, announced the formation of the 21st Century School Facilities Commission Friday.

The state conducted...

(Elisha Sauers)

The center hosts field trips for about 2,500 to 3,500 students a year.

Arlotto said some of the activities at the science center can be done in classrooms. The county also has Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center.

Arlotto said he choose Galesville because the area lacked public and private preschools. He plans to add more pre-kindergarten classes at different schools, but declined to share details about possible locations.

There are many more families who want to send their children to pre-kindergarten than seats available, parents and teachers said.

When Tricia Huffman's 3-year-old son turns four next year, she's enrolling him in private preschool to learn social and behavioral lessons he's expected to know in Kindergarten.

She learned the value of pre-kindergarten after she made the mistake of not enrolling her first child in preschool, she said. Her family members taught her older son Zach Meunier, a third grader at Deale Elementary, how to read and write sentences before he started Kindergarten.

So when he started kindergarten, he was academically ready, but didn't have the classroom skills to listen to his teacher.

"He thought it was like a vacation," she said. "He took it as this is playtime."

She said the experience motivated her to sign up younger son, Colten Meunier, 3, for private preschool so that he can adjust to a group learning environment.

She's worried that if her son didn't attend preschool, he'd be behind in kindergarten.

Alicia Winarski, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Ferndale Early Education Center in Glen Burnie, said many of her students start class without ever attending day care or group learning.

Because the pre-kindergarten program serves families in need first, "the families we're reaching don't have as much opportunity to have those experiences," Winarski said.

She teaches them how to stand in line, wash their hands and share toys. Beyond behavior, she teaches them decision making skills and how to treat classmates with kindness, and how to develop safe habits.

Valued science program

At the science center, Sharon Solberg, a part-time teacher at the center, swooped her hand into a large fish tank and picked up a horseshoe crab.

During a lesson, she would flip the animal to show how the crab is more like a spider than crustacean with its 10 legs and 10 eyes. Using a shell of a dead female horseshoe crab, she would explain the female crabs are larger and have scars from the males mounting them during sex. They've been around since the dinosaurs.

The classrooms have lessons ranging from insect metamorphosis to the ecosystem and taxidermy.

In the taxidermy room, a stuffed mountain lion stands in a hunting position and an eagle spreads its wings.

Dorothy Chaney, the director of the Carrie Weedon Science Center Foundation, Inc., said she wants to continue the program.

She said school officials should have held community meetings to get input on converting the building to a pre Kindergarten center.

The Schools Chief Operating Officer Alex Szachnowicz said community meetings have to take place before redistricting or closing a public school.

But the county would not hold community meetings about changing the use of an administrative or non-school building, he said. He also pointed out the public hearings on the school budget are opportunities for community members to share their opinions. The school board will have a public hearing on the budget Jan. 5 at Old Mill High School and Jan. 7 in the school board meeting room.

The school board is expected to approve the budget in February.

Teachers at the science center said field trips to Carrie Weedon are more engaging than ones to museums or zoos.

"Why would you take away a program so valued by teachers?" Chaney said.